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MST3K 402 - The Giant Gila Monster
The Movie "I'm going to go listen to my cat scream." Synopsis When the son of a pushy Texas tycoon disappears while on a date, he makes it abundantly clear to the well-meaning sheriff that the lad must be found immediately or the lawman's job will be forfeit. Soon others are reported missing, one leaving a valise and some cigarettes behind. Chase Winstead, a young local tow truck driver, and his French girlfriend are drawn into the fray. There are teens with bathtub-shaped hot rods, famous DJ's found stone drunk in their cars, comedy-relief oldsters who race trains, and a giant gila monster. And the Lord said "laugh". Information *This was one of two features produced by an independent company in Texas and meant for release as a double feature. The other feature was The Killer Shrews (1959). Unlike many such features produced in the South, these films received national distribution. *Ken Knox, who plays disc jockey Horatio Alger "Steamroller" Smith, was a real disc jockey working at radio stations in Texas owned by Gordon McLendon, the uncredited executive producer of this film.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052846/trivia The Episode Host Segments Prologue: Crow and Tom Servo are 'The Thing with Two Heads.' At first they hate it, but then they realize they’re "The Odd Couple 1999." But just when they begin to get into it, Joel nips it in the bud. Segment One (Invention Exchange): Frank announces Dr. Clayton Forrester's death! It turns out Dr. F isn’t really dead, but very mad at Frank. Joel has a radio with a tuner that only picks up channels from old sitcoms and movies. The Mads demonstrate their Renaissance Festival punching bags. Segment Two: Joel has turned a spare closet into a teen pavilion/barbershop as seen in the film. Crow and Tom keep calling Joel a "stupid jerk" instead of a "soda jerk" and being generally insulting. After they order a "Blue Floyd" (a drink made with ice cream, malted milk, and Barbicide) Joel becomes fed up with them and their antics. Then Gypsy shows up and the whole set falls down. Segment Three: The crew celebrates the classic drunks, and Crow asks, "When did public intoxication stop being funny?", discussing drunks such as Crazy Guggenheim and Dean Martin. Then Joel and the bots act out vignettes of different types of drunks, which ends up turning into an after-school special. Segment Four: "Servo on Cinema" looks at Ray Kellogg’s "Leg Up" blocking technique. Joel and Crow cannot resist butting in. Segment Five: The rock group Hee-La rehearses until Crow asks, "Aren’t we just doing the same stuff we did when we were SpiDorr?" The first letter is from a little girl who thinks Crow’s name is 'Art.' The second letter says, "'Dear Joe and Bots: I just like the way Tom Serbo sings, my favorite robot is Crow, but Joe is funny too.' And it’s signed...TV’s Frank?!" Frank celebrates his short-lived victory in Deep 13 as Dr. F looks on in disgust. Stinger: Drunken old Harris gags on sody pop at the soda shop Other Notes Miscellanea * The letter calling Crow "Art" references back to Jungle Goddess, specifically the "My White Goddess" sketch that referred to Crow as "Art Crow" at the end. That sketch and this letter later became the source of the running gag of Pearl Forrester constantly referring to Crow as "Art". Obscure References *''“'That's not right, pickin' up your Mom and playin' football with her - crazy people!"' Joel is channeling eccentric comedian Kevin Meaney. *“Hava la gila! Hava la gila!”'' Refers to the song Hava Nagila. *''“Bad movie? You’re soaking in it!”'' Refers to a series of Palmolive dish detergent commercials featuring Madge the manicurist in which she reveals to her client that her (the client's) fingers have been inserted in said Palmolive. http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_madge.htm *''"Now let's go rent 'The Errand Boy.'"'' The Errand Boy was a by-the-book goofball Jerry Lewis vehicle. *''"Tip-toe through the tulips!"'' Refers to the 1926 song Tip-toe Through the Tulips which was later popularized in 1968 by the inimitable falsetto singer and ukelele player Tiny Tim. *''"NEW YORK CITY?!?" Servo: "Get the rope."'' Refers to the Pace salsa commercials popular at the time, where the cowboy cook was using salsa from New York City and not "authentic" salsa. Video release *Commercially released on DVD by Rhino in February 2008 as a "replacement" for Godzilla vs. Megalon in Volume 10 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 10.2, a 4-DVD set with Swamp Diamonds, Teen-Age Strangler, and The Giant Spider Invasion. The episode was also released as a single disc in February 2008 as a limited-time-offer for those who already bought Volume 10. That disc as of 2008 is now out-of-print, and Volume 10.2 was later later pulled in January 2010 due to Rhino no longer obtaining the rights to distribute Mst3k. *A special feature on the DVD was a new "host segment" instructing viewers on how to dispose of their Godzilla Vs. Megalon DVD in the boxed set and replace it with The Giant Gila Monster. The segment featured Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Frank Conniff reprising their roles from the series (in front of a green screen effect of the SOL Bridge and Deep 13). Frank provided the voice of Tom Servo. Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 4 Category:Movies directed by Jim Mallon Category:Mystery Science Theater Hour Episodes Category:Unrated movies